Reaching There

We like to watch a good movie. There are some movies you like, others you love and then there are a few that touch a cord with your heart. It could be a drama, horror, romance or comedy. We love to watch people pretend on the screen with emotions that should appear true. Some of my favourite movies are Treasure Island, In the Loop, The Chaser, The Godfather, I Saw the Devil and The Shawshank Redemption.  As you can see my choices range from classics to murder mysteries. One of the movies is about a guy looking for treasure unintentionally accompanied by pirates and finally a fight ensues - everything else you already know. Another is about how world was forced into a war to fulfil geopolitical advantages for a group of nations; a political satire. The Chaser - is about a guy who is chasing a serial murderer, the "chaser" is a former cop turned pimp - yet I liked him. There is no particular genre that I can adhere too. So is there anything common in these movies?  Ap...

We all like things to be done certain way. Whether we call those personal rules or just call them that's-the-way-I-like; we all have defined a certain way of living for us. And for even two persons to cohabit there needs to be compromises and it always ends with one party being slightly (or extremely) unhappy about the compromise reached knowingly or unknowingly. There are times when egos are too blunt resulting in a sword-fight that have repercussions that we all are too familiar with. This is the reality of material realm. In a spiritual realm we want to cohabit with God (or some may say become an inseparable part of God or become God-like). Whatever the case be we've to first begin by knowing God and then try to be friends. In Hinduism (or for that matter any religion) there are defined certain "rules" in scriptures that form the basis of propitiating God.  As Hindus we are all too familiar with the concept of "vrat" (or fasting). Even if we go ...

A play in one act By Pushkar Bajpai Character List VIVEK: A thirty something man with clean shave and three small suitcases that are stuffed MAN/THE MAN: An enigmatic looking thirty year old man with blue beaded string around his neck. Fade In. — (Start of Scene 1) — INT: A TRAIN COMPARTMENT – DUSK WITH LAST RAYS OF SUNLIGHT POURING IN THROUGH THE WINDOWS The train stops at a train station of a small town. A man walks into the compartment; looks around for the seat number then places his almost torn & tattered bag underneath the seat. The man looks at Vivek and they exchange a slight nod of heads. MAN Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t see you were here too. VIVEK It’s alright, nice to have some company finally. MAN (Smiles) Where are you going? VIVEK New Delhi. How about you? MAN I’m going to….. (The train horn drowns the next few words) (Vivek opens his mouth to say pardon but is interrupted by The Man) MAN It’s awfully hot in h...

I'm not a manager but I've managed small teams and have been managed by bunch of managers during my career so far. I've come to a personal conclusion (with a strong chance of being completely wrong) that I've a Real value and a Perceived value. And from one manager to another there is a difference in these two values from time to time. This gap can lead to good career opportunities or a stale period in the career. So what is the Real value - these are the capabilities and differentiators I show on my resume. It's there on a piece of paper that goes to the manager and he makes a decision based on the black-and-white letters he sees on it. I'm experienced in some of those things and in others I would be a complete novice. Also these are tagged to you for future reference as well. A bit shaky definition, eh! Well, it's what people know about me, it could be simple definition about me - like an engineer, analyst, singer or a programmer etc. And what is...

It feels so much better to work out if you have a workout partner. It not only keeps us motivated which results in energy that constantly push us. So often your fitness partner would come up to you and shows you how much he feels good because of the muscles bulging out, during the exercise! He or she is not showing-off (maybe consciously he or she is showing-off) but subconsciously there is a bigger emotion at play. I like to call it 'back-me-up-mate' theory . It's like when we're happy we like to share it with others; it's not the pride that's causing it but it's the simple old sharing the joy. Research has shown if we share our goals with our friends or peers we tend to perform better. Workout is like any other training that begins with goal(s) that are laid out as per our desires. It could be looking like ‘Stallone’ or your any other favourite movie star, or it could the desire to lead a healthier lifestyle. Having an aim isn't enough - workout...

How often do you pass a small temple on the sides of busy roads? Very often, if you travel to any part of the country you'll see a temple dedicated to a God ranging from a huge temple with sprawling lawns to smaller ones that are serving a local community. India probably has thousands of major temples that pilgrims visit each year to mark momentous occasions in either the religious calendars or a special occasion in their earthly life journey. And then there are hundreds of thousands of smaller temples that occupy the nooks and crannies of the Indian maps. These are smaller in size, probably no bigger than a mid-sized studio apartment and house one or two Gods. Some time back I wrote a post on the majestic Prem Mandir inVrindavan , comparing any temple with a house of God. The concluding paragraph from the post is as follows: Temples are places of divinity but nothing seems to change in between the moments we go in and come out. However if we go inside a temple as a ho...

A s the world reels under another crisis at a global level there are some questions that linger about the origins of all this. It is difficult to understand the origins of the crisis as any investigation into it seems to mirror the puzzle - which came first chicken or egg. There are a few theories floating around that try to give prominence of one's existence over other. Leaving the science behind and coming back to our global crisis. Whether it's the crash of #MH17 or #GazaCrisis or just a fight among neighbours; all seem to have roots in the primordial human crisis that we can call #Ego. There could be economic or social or geographical justifications to crises. However if we follow a 5 Whys approach there is only a psychological justification (I'm ashamed to call it a justification). Ego can be interpreted as materialistic energy that hides the truth from us and separates us from the true identity. The simplified version of truth & the true identity (as pe...